In Delhi, RSS begins huge Dalit outreach on Dussehra

The RSS Dalit outreach comes at a time when the BJP has been dubbed as "anti-Dalit" for its stance on the Gujarat killings by cow vigilantes, suicide of University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula and anti-Mayawati rants by RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat.

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Siddhartha Rai

New Delhi

October 9, 2016

UPDATED: October 9, 2016 18:17 IST

RSS will celebrate Dussehra as as a mark of social harmony.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Ramlila committees are inviting local Dalit dignitaries as chief guests to the enactments.

photos of Babasaheb Ambedkar too are finding a place on the banners and posters.

It's time for the Hindus to unite, moving beyond the castes. That's the message which the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wants to send out loud and clear this Dussehra. In its massive outreach programme for the Dalits, the outfit is sparing no efforts to give voice to the voiceless and make them feel that they are pretty much part of the large Hindu family. The intention is clear - to unite one and all, negating the ill effects of caste divide and discrimination that keeps the Dalits apart.

The RSS is all set to celebrate this Dussehra festival as a mark of social harmony aimed at giving the Dalit communities of the country a pride of place. While the Sangh has been publicly celebrating the festival in some form or the other since its inception in 1925, this year the commemoration seems to carry a sensitive social message with a view to the 2017 Uttar Pradesh election.

ONE TEMPLE, ONE WELL AND ONE CREMATORIUM

The Muslim Rashtriya Manch will hold 100 meetings across various cities in UP.

The Delhi prant of the RSS is organising a social harmony festival or 'Samajik Samarasta Vijayadashmi Utsav' in Delhi on Sunday. The programme would see a noted Dalit saint from the Valmiki community of scavengers - Balyogi Sant Shri Ravi Sahji Maharaj - as the chief guest. The saint is the coordinator of Shri Bhagwan Valmiki Adhyatmik Ashram in Gannaur in Haryana.

According to the RSS, the move is underlined by its central social tenet of 'One Temple, One Well and One Crematorium'.

"Sarsanghchalak (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat has dedicated this year to social harmony and we are only following his principles. Look at the nefarious designs that are afloat to divide the Hindu community. Asaduddin Owaisi went to Uttar Pradesh and declared that there are only two marginalised communities: Muslims and Dalits. He said if the two got united it will lead to political power easily and surely. The underlining assumption here is that Dalits are not Hindus," Alok Kumar, RSS's sah-sanghchalak (second in command in Delhi prant), told Mail Today.

The RSS Dalit outreach comes at a time when the BJP has been dubbed as "anti-Dalit" for its stance on the Gujarat killings by cow vigilantes, suicide of University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula and anti-Mayawati rants by RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat.

RAMLILAS TO INCLUDE WORSHIP OF SAGE VALMIKI

Moreover, to send out a strong message among the Dalit communities that hold sizeable numbers in several assembly constituencies in poll-bound UP, the RSS has also brought on board numerous local Ramlila committees from around Delhi. The right-wing outfit has made the Ramlilas to include the worship of Sage Valmiki along with Lord Rama at Ramleela events across the national Capital.

To strengthen the move, the Ramlila committees are inviting local Dalit dignitaries as chief guests to the enactments. Added to it, photos of Babasaheb Ambedkar too are finding a place on the banners and posters.

"A narrative is being sewn together for some time now by the Left in India - that we are anti-Dalit and the Rohith Vemula controversy was in line with that. Babasaheb throughout his life wrote against the Leftist-Socialist brigade and it is such an irony that these very people try to misappropriate him in institutions such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)," said RSS's Delhi prant prachar pramukh Rajiv Tuli.

Several political concerns of a social nature that are surely to have a big role in Uttar Pradesh, a state fractured along the faultlines of caste, seem to have inspired the move. While Delhi has a massive migrant population from Uttar Pradesh, organising such a programme in the national Capital is sure to grab the attention of the media which would lead to widespread dissemination of the RSS's message across the country.

Political pundits have dubbed the 2017 UP polls as the semifinals to the 2019 general elections. The state has long been dominated by regional parties such as the OBC-dominated Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Dalit leader Mayawati while the BJP has had a long dry spell as the last time it came to power in UP was in 1996.

EYE ON UP, RSS MUSLIM WING TO WOO YOUTH

The aim is clear: to attract the votes of the minorities. And keeping that in mind, the Muslim Rashtriya Manch of the RSS has been activated in Uttar Pradesh. With that the outfit hopes the Bharatiya Janata Party will be able to garner enough Muslim votes in the poll-bound state.

The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) will host a meeting on October 15 in minority dominated Mewat district. The event will coincide with the birthday of former President, the late APJ Abdul Kalam. The message from the MRM platform will be loud and clear - the BJP and RSS are not the enemies of the Muslims and the ruling party at the Centre hopes to attract more youth from the community.

"There is a strong perception that the policies of BJP and RSS are against minority communities. BJP and RSS have many development programmes to offer that somehow are not reaching to the minority community. The basic idea of these meeting is to change the mindset of the Muslim community, especially the younger people and make them aware about the development progammes of the central government," said MRM national convener Khurshid Rajaka.

Rajaka pointed out former President Abdul Kalam was above any community and religion. In a similar manner, the RSS is also working in the interest of common people whether they are Hindus or Muslims or from any other community, he said. Meetings like the Progressive Panchayat and such MRM events will help make people realise the positive commitment of the BJP and RSS, he added.

MRM will organise 100 meetings across the country. Some such events will be held in Uttar Pradesh, in cities like Aligarh, Agra, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Azamgarh where the Muslims are present in large numbers. There is a plan to connect with the Muslim youth in universities like the Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, JNU, Lucknow University and Banaras Hindu University among others.